Visors are included as part of original equipment furnished with a motor vehicle. Mirrors were soon added as a convenience item for vehicle occupants.
Initially, mirrors attached to a visor were not covered. Subsequently thereto, different methods were made available for covering the mirror. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,383 to Tawaraya discloses a mirror attached to a sub-visor which is covered by being moved within a cavity formed in a mirror holder portion. More recently, the mirror was covered by a door which cooperated with an electrical circuit to activate an illumination device for illuminating the mirror once the door was moved to a retracted position uncovering the mirror.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,839 to White et al. discloses a mirror covered by a sliding door which cooperates with an illumination circuit to illuminate the mirror once the door has moved the retracted position. In this configuration, a single door is used for selectively covering and uncovering the mirror.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,003 to Gabas discloses a mirror having a plurality of rigid sheet-like plates utilized for covering a mirror disposed within a visor. In this configuration, the plates are in chain-like series relative to one another enabling the sliding of one plate over the other when moving between an open position within the housing and a closed position covering the mirror.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,174 to Gute discloses an expandable covered mirror visor having a lever and/or rack and gear mechanism interconnecting at least a pair of blades enabling simultaneous movement between a retracted position and an extended position for a plurality of blades. In this configuration, the blades are capable of simultaneous movement between the retracted and extended positions to expand the size of the visor to increase glare protection.
The present invention incorporates many of the known benefits of providing doors for covering and uncovering a visor mirror while improving the ease of use for the occupant of the vehicle.